What is Upanishad? - By Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Sitting close and listening is Upanishad. Upanishad is a collection of discourses of high knowledge, and the manner it was transmitted from a Master to students is very interesting.
One of the Upanishads beautifully brings this out well. Once a boy went to his father who was also his Guru and asked, 'What is God?' To which the father replied, ‘Food is God’, for everything grows from food, everything is sustained by food and when there is a lack of it, everything dissolves and everything again becomes food.
So the boy went and thought about it for several months, understood all about food and came back to his father, and again asked ‘What is God?’ The father said, ‘Parana is God’. The boy went, thought and understands all about prang, how it is going in and out of body, how many types of prana there are and read all experiments about prana. He again came back to his father and asked, ‘What is God?’ The father looked at the child’s face, so glowing and so vibrant. The father said, 'Ok, the mind is Brahman, mind is God'. The boy went and thought till he found the ultimate bliss.

Notice, that the student didn't complain to the teacher that he was earlier told ‘Food is God’ but later something else. He simply came and again asked the question. So this is an ancient way of teaching, step by step – food, then prana, then the mind, then the inner spirit, then the universal spirit, Bliss. Bliss is Divinity, the space. You are like the space. Then he said, 'There is no difference between you, me and the infinite self. We all are one. The Self, Guru and the universal energy are not different. All are made up of one substance.'
Today if you talk to scientists who study the string theory, who study quantum physics, they will say the same thing that is said in Upanishads. In the Upanishads, it was said thousands of years ago that 'God is not a person, sitting somewhere up in heaven but God is present everywhere. He is omnipresent and omnipotent, the energy of which you are also made of, everything is made up of.' Don’t confuse God to be a person, somewhere sitting up in heaven. Godliness is your own nature.
God is Vibration. God is Love. God is Truth, Existence. God is Beauty.

Check out other talks by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at Art of Living shop.

Art of Living campaign to protect girl child

Art of Living, a humanitarian organisation founded by spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, has launched a month-long nationwide campaign to protect the girl child through awareness and commitment.

"The campaign focuses on female feticide, malnutrition, abuse and violence against girls, lack of access to education and child marriage," Art of Living said
in a statement here Saturday.

Designed to inspire people to pledge support to the girl child and influence decision-makers who can impact policy related to girls and women, the campaign will be conducted in cities identified as gender-critical such as Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, Ranchi in Jharkhand, Indore in Madhya Pradesh, Jaipur in Rajasthan and Bongaigaon in Assam.

"In our culturally and traditionally rich society, when crime against girls and women is rising, it is our duty to put an end to violence and discrimination against them," Sri Sri Ravi Shankar told a gathering of 1,000 people who took pledge in the Art of Living ashram here.

Unicef India's communication specialist Manisha Mishra was present on the occasion.

A cross section of society spanning schools, colleges, universities, state governments, corporate houses and non-government organisations (NGOs) are participating in the campaign to end discrimination against, and abuse of, girls and women.

"Girls are often seen as a burden. Let us pledge to commit to treat them with dignity and respect, to teach our sons, brothers and nephews the value of girls," Mishra said at the event.

Being at the forefront of social transformation, Art of Living has initiated a number of projects over the past eight years for the girl child's welfare, including 383 free schools in 18 states across the country, covering 33,590 children, with half of them being girls.

"The campaign is about changing mindsets and we are hopeful that faith as an important influencer will bring about this change," said Vandana Khurana, a participant.

As the rising incidences of violence and crime against girls and women are causing concern to all, the Art of Living's "Celebrate the Girl Child" pledge and campaign are designed to convert the concern into a socially-relevant action.

Read More for Art of Living on firstpost

Positive Thinking: Sacrifice Brings Strength

All the scriptures of the world glorify sacrifice. Sacrifice is giving up something that you value. You can only sacrifice that which you would like to keep for yourself, in other words, that which gives you pleasure and joy.

All the scriptures of the world glorify sacrifice. Sacrifice is giving up something that you value. You can only sacrifice that which you would like to keep for yourself, in other words, that which gives you pleasure and joy.

You cannot sacrifice something that you dislike or disown. Sacrifice is always related to a higher cause for a greater good. At the same time, when your love for the greater good is strong, nothing else assumes any value. Sacrifice here becomes irrelevant, because love alone is your strongest driving force. So when there is so much love there cannot be sacrifice. At the same time when there is no love, there is no sacrifice.  For example, if a mother has made plans to see a movie and she realises that her child is sick, she does not say that she has sacrificed the movie to nurse her child, because she simply did not want to go. Nothing else seems to charm the mother besides being with her child.

You do not sacrifice something for someone you are in love with. Sacrifice indicates that your pleasure has more value than the cause for which you are sacrificing. When the love is lukewarm, then sacrifice assumes meaning. Yet sacrifice purifies the human mind and reins in selfish tendencies. It can also bring pride, arrogance, self-pity and sometimes even depression.

For a wise man, nothing is more valuable than truth, values and the divine, and he will never sacrifice those. God is the greatest, and if he values the greatest then how can he sacrifice God? This is the paradox of sacrifice. Sacrifice brings strength in life. Life without sacrifice is stagnant. Sacrifice gives you the quantum leap. It takes you to a higher pedestal. The amount of sacrifice in your life brings out your magnanimity and helps you move out of misery. Zeal, enthusiasm, strength and joy are all connected to sacrifice. Sacrifice never goes unrewarded. There can be no love, no wisdom and no true joy without sacrifice. Sacrifice makes you sacred. Become sacred.

by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

I Did Not Pay Bribe

When the India Against Corruption movement started with blessings from Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji, and we all took an oath not to give bribe, little did I realize that very soon my noble resolve would be put to test.

The place was the property registration office, Mylapore, Chennai. The occasion was to formalize a gift deed of my flat to offer it to an NGO for their work. The registrar did not accept any of the certification we provided, though they were clear and valid. She would ask for some papers and the moment we arrived with them, she would change her mind and ask for something else.


After months of our documents pending with the registration office, I received a legal notice of our documents impounded for further action.

This is when our Anti Corruption team turned out to be a great help. Jahir Hussain, the in charge of Art of Living anti-corruption movement in Chennai, immediately swung into action. He along with another volunteer met with the IT Commissioner who happened to have done the Art of Living program.


The three of them together met with the Inspector General of the registrar office, who was the only one who could revert the legal notice. The meeting with the IT commissioner had a tremendous impact. The IG admitted the mistake on their part and reverted the legal notice, requesting his office to verify from the IT office themselves!


Such a ‘quick’ decision is unheard of in normal circumstances, when Government officials stick to their guns come what may.. But the sincerity and commitment of Art of Living volunteers prevailed.

The five Cs that Gurudev mentions – as antidotes to corruption were ably evident: the IT Commissioner had more sense of belongingness (read Connectedness) to Jahir Hussain than with the Inspector General!!!

The other C was Commitment: belongingness brought forth commitment to a higher cause – here against false implication and legal notice served unwarrantedly
Care and Courage were an integral part once commitment was made, and the common link in relating to the cosmos was Sudharshan Kriya.


No doubt, the time taken was lengthy. But finally we made it! Our power of attorney Subhas, was continuously on cell phone with the very registrar, pushing him to verify from the concerned office. After nearly two years of dilly dallying, the Gift Deed was procured without giving in to a corrupt system where the smallest of work cannot be done without paying a bribe.


My resolve not to give bribe has become stronger, thanks to the inspiration from the Art of Living. Just having anti-corruption laws will not root out corruption. Let us all resolve that we will not pay a bribe in any situation for any reason. Jai Gurudev!